The Hellenic Offensive
by ParadoxalPaladin
Summary: Perseus Jackson lives in Greece, and serves within the Greek (or Hellenic) Navy. When he learns of his unusual father, he joins the Greek camp, "Τελευταία στάση" or "Last Stand" referring to what they are meant for: they will only be called upon when all else has failed, and the gods have retreated home. When he and his comrades are brought to action, he must lead them to victory.


Summary:

Perseus Jackson lives within Greece, and serves within the Greek (or Hellenic) Navy. When he learns of his rather unusual father, he joins the Greek camp, "Τελευταία στάση" or "Last Stand" referring to what they are meant for: they will only be called upon when all else has failed, and the gods have retreated to their original home. When he and his comrades are brought to action, he must help lead them to victory, or death.

_Perseus P.O.V._

"Lieutenant Perseus, please report to the bridge for instructions from the captain." said Alexandros, Lieutenant-Commander of the ship.

"Yes, sir!" I replied in turn with practiced sharpness. Alexandros would have me punished for the slightest infraction, down to a speck of dust on my uniform. He'd always hated me for the fact that I'd risen through the ranks from Seaman through Petty Officer in the mandatory nine months period required of all men, at any age from nineteen to forty-five. Afterwards, I continued to work in the navy, quickly rising to Lieutenant from Petty Officer. Alexandros had become increasingly infuriated as I continued to get closer to his rank, when I was only 21, while he was 45.

I'd began the mandatory Greek military work at 19, as I stopped going to school after the compulsory classes ended when I was fifteen, instead electing to help my mother scrape out a living working a small café that is known more for the homemade candies there than anything else.

My polished boots rang against the metal steps as I marched up into the bridge, catching the eye of the captain.

"Perseus!" he called out as I marched quickly over to him.

"Yes, Captain?" I asked uncertainly, afraid my performance had been viewed as shoddy, since I had never been asked for by the captain personally before. The captain, strangely enough, was in a wheelchair, his legs covered by a blanket, and his brown beard and hair slightly scruffy, completely out of regulation.

"What is that object out upon the water?" he questioned, handing me a pair of binoculars. "For all the other men say it is a whale, and I am not so sure."

"Well, Captain," I began, adjusting the focus of the binoculars "To me, it looks…." I paused, not quite sure if I should tell the truth "Like a monstrous octopus, larger than any I've ever seen." The other high-level soldiers in the Navy who stood on the bridge gave me very odd looks, which the captain just gave me a knowing, if slightly scared, smile, and a nod.

"You have a new assignment. Take an able seaman under your command, and position him at the bow. You should await his observations, and write them and yours into the logbook." He said, with a hint of what seemed to be fear in his voice.

_**Hours Later…**_

As the great warship rumbled on upon the Agean Sea the object continued to grow bigger and more defined, and my hand kept drifting down to the pistol on my hip as we drew closer to it. My brain fought, my instincts of _RUN YOU IDIOT! _Endlessly fighting with my sense of duty to finding information about the strange object floating off the northern coast of Crete. The Able Seaman continues to report a dead whale, which I dutifully mark in the logbook, which also recording the fact that it seemed to be a colossal octopus, its tentacles floating upon the water, waiting for an innocent passerby to decimate. As I watch from the bow, my body shakes with anticipation, ready to bring the guns to action, in defense of the ship.

_**30 Minutes After**_

It moved! I swear I saw it its body heaving out of place, "drifting" towards the ship at frightening speeds. Even as the Able Seaman continually reports the dead body of a whale, I know something is off. Finally, I decide enough is enough. Jumping to my feet, I quickly begin jogging to the bridge, ready to raise the alert. _Cruunnchhh! _The sickening sound of metal being torn, the death call of any ship, and the final sound heard by many a sailor. The deck lurched to a stop under me, shaking me off my feet, even with my instinctive balancing whenever we were swinging rhythmically through the waves. The steady 20 knots we had been doing was torn apart, and I could hear the engine grinding, trying to keep us moving even as some huge object held us. Suddenly, we were let adrift again, and I could feel from the boat's sluggish movements that a rent had been torn through the hard steel plates of the hull. Without warning the ship stopped again, the deck tilting horribly at a forty-five degree angle, sending anyone on the upper deck screaming toward the port side. "Shit!" I shouted to no one in particular, my hands scrabbling for a handhold as I slid, and finally catching upon one of the many cleats that were placed along the deck. My fingertips rested against the edge of the cleat, and they slowly began to slip. Using the last reserves of my energy, I threw my right arm up over the cleat, looping around one of the sides.

Searing pain suddenly explodes in my leg, and I glance down for the first time, being too afraid to look before, and grimacing at the gash torn into it. _Gah! Zut! Damn! _Γαμώ!

Scrambling to remember my medic training, I used my teeth to tear the sleeve off my right arm, (Navy standards be damned) and pressed it against the laceration, cutting off blood flow to the area, somewhat solving the problem temporarily. Finally, my mind turned back to the true enemy: the monster. My eyes opened up wide in horror as I look at the scene unfolding at the lowered end of the ship, before snapping shut, stomach churning. It was _tearing them in half. _It would take two tentacles, grab one end of a man, grab the other end, and pull until his sickening cries were cut short, before plunging the corpse into the sea to where I presume the mouth hid.

Letting my makeshift bandage fall to the ground, I pulled my gun from my belt left-handed, and fired the entire eight round magazine into one the hungry tentacles, feeling around for the next snack. _And they passed through it._

"Perseus, catch!" the captain called from the bridge. Instinctively, my hand flew up in front of my face, even as I saw the captain… on a horse? As I feel a heavy object slide into my ready hand, I close my fingers, then turn my hand to look at it, and see…. _Another magazine? With bronze bullets? _ Screw it, I thought, and threw the cartridge into my gun, and began firing. The bullets now ripped through the tentacle, and I fired two into each of the attacking limbs, before retraining my gun upon those holding the bulwark down into the water, which were torn into bits where the bullets hit. Suddenly the boat shot up, resettling itself upon the water, and also pulling my arm from its precarious hold upon the cleat, launching my limp body from the quickly sinking ship into the water, the last thought going through my head: _Just how fast does a human have to go to hit the water like its concrete again?_

**Heeeloooohhh! I'm back with a separate story from The Forest's Tranquility, but don't worry, it will not take its place, and I hope to have a chapter up for it in the next couple of days. Anyways, give me your feelings on the chapter, I'm open for 'em all, and until next time, good day!**

**ParadoxalPaladin**


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